In Memoriam: Jeff Howarth
Jeffrey Howarth, associate professor of geography, died on February 25, 2026, in Middlebury, Vermont, at the age of 54 following a battle with cancer. During his time at Middlebury, he was an innovative teacher-scholar who pioneered new pedagogical approaches for teaching geospatial techniques and whose impact on students had a deep and lasting influence.
“Jeff was an exceptional teacher who challenged and inspired his students to learn and work harder than many of them were used to,” said colleague Guntram Herb, professor of geography and international and global studies. “He had unusually high standards for students and for himself, and he found ingenious ways to offer his students guidance.”
Howarth was born August 18, 1971, in Princeton, N.J. His taste for adventure was nurtured at a young age traveling alongside his father, a professor at Princeton University, who frequently wrote for National Geographic. He attended the University of California, Santa Cruz, graduating with honors in 1994 with a BA in environmental studies. His studies gave focus to his passion for conservation, the wilderness, and the importance of balancing the needs of humans with those of native plants and animals. After graduation, he worked from 1994 to 2000 at Santa Cruz Island Reserve. He then earned an MA and PhD in geography at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Howarth joined the Department of Geography at Middlebury in 2007 as a visiting instructor, becoming an assistant professor in 2009 and an associate professor in 2017. He taught courses on GIS, land-use planning, conservation, and island geographies, and was particularly passionate about cartography, loving the idea that maps offer ways to see natural and human relationships that would remain invisible without cartographic representation. He had the ability to inspire his students to create maps showing how people, animals, and plants use and move over landscapes as well as to work in ways to make the world better, particularly in the area of conservation.
“They were not just good maps, they were maps for good,” said former student Will Greene ’19. Several of Howarth’s students are now producing maps that appear in The New York Times, National Geographic, and The Wall Street Journal.
In 2014, Howarth won the Gladstone Award Honoring Excellence in Teaching, given to faculty who have exhibited exceptional teaching and mentoring within and beyond the classroom. He not only inspired students but colleagues as well. Joe Holler, associate professor of geography, and Niwaeli Kimambo, assistant professor of geography, were teaching fellows under Howarth. “Thanks to Jeff, we grew tremendously as spatial thinkers and teachers,” they wrote in a letter nominating him for an award. “Because of Jeff, our department’s curriculum in cartography, GIS, remote sensing, and environmental modeling is truly cutting edge.”
As a researcher, he wrote numerous articles, at times including student input, and he presented at conferences around the United States and globally. In 2025 he received honorable mention from the Student Government Association for the Marjorie Lamberti Faculty Appreciation Award.
Howarth was a thoughtful and deeply loving father to children Aldo and Isabel and partner to Jessica Chatfield. He will be deeply missed.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Middlebury Area Land Trust. A memorial service will be held in the spring.